Monday, November 28, 2016

It's late
November in Grundy, Virginia, a tiny town whose economy revolves
around Peyton Automotive, a family business inherited by Matthew
Peyton (Ryan O'Quinn) from his late grandfather. Because the company
has fallen on hard times in recent days, the overwhelmed CEO is
considering cancelling the annual Christmas pageant the corporation
has sponsored since the Seventies. In fact,
Matthew finds himself being pressured by his financial advisor,
Albert Bagley (Kevin Sizemore) either to lay off or lower the
salaries of some of his 115 employees. Needless to say, the prospect
of cutbacks doesn't sit well with union rep Bob Alexander (James C.
Burns) who proceeds to call for a strike. Matthew, in
turn, testifies before Grundy's City Council that he can no longer
afford to stage the holiday festival because the funds in the trust
have been totally exhausted. Trouble is, his grandfather's
specifically stipulated in his will that Peyton Automotive must
continue the tradition. Nevertheless,
Matthew asserts that the business has been losing money for a couple
of years and that, given the situation, he has no choice but to shut
it down. Meanwhile, he's warned by the Mayor (Lance E. Nichols), "You
keep going in this direction, you will get crucified." Soon enough,
Matthew finds himself the victim of escalating violence. First his
BMW is egged and has a tire slashed, before being torched entirely.
Then, he's beaten to within an inch of his life and left for dead by
a gang of union goons. Coming to
his rescue is a most unlikely hero, a precocious homeless kid named
CJ Joseph (Issac Ryan Brown). CJ and his mom Sharon (Danielle
Nicolet) nurse Matthew back to health while giving him a priceless
lesson about what really matters most in life. For, despite
their dire circumstances, the Josephs both fervently believe that
better days are coming. "I wish I had that kind of faith,"
Matthew admits. Upon recovering, the grateful heir informs Sharon and
son that "You took care of me, now I'll take care of you." That is the
point of departure of Believe, a modern morality play marking the
feature film directorial debut of Billy Dickson. Although the picture
is ostensibly aimed at the Christian demographic, it has a
complicated enough storyline, including a love triangle and
intriguing plot twists, to appeal to more than merely Bible-thumping
Evangelicals. A
thought-provoking parable as entertaining as it is a message movie.

Very
Good (3 stars)Rated PG for violence, mature
themes and mild epithets. Running time: 118 minutesDistributor: Power of 3

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The Sly Fox Film Reviews publishes the content of film critic Kam Williams. Voted Most Outstanding Journalist of the Decade by the Disilgold Soul Literary Review in 2008, Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications around the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and the Caribbean. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee and Rotten Tomatoes.

In addition to a BA in Black Studies from Cornell, he has an MA in English from Brown, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a JD from Boston University. Kam lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife and son.